


Christmas Spirit

by LI0NH34RT



Series: Christmas Time [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Driving, Home for Christmas, M/M, Thiam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21932599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LI0NH34RT/pseuds/LI0NH34RT
Summary: I'm driving home for ChristmasDriving home for ChristmasWith a thousand memories
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Series: Christmas Time [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2046095
Comments: 11
Kudos: 38





	Christmas Spirit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shatteeran](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatteeran/gifts).



> Special Thanks to Tomi for the ring idea! 💙

_I'm dreaming of a white Christmas_  
_With every Christmas card I write_  
_May your days be merry and bright_  
_And may all your Christmases be white_

The last notes of Kelly Clarkson's ‘White Christmas’ fade away and Theo changes the station on his radio. No pauses, no silence, no time for his brain to overthink what was to come.  
He glances down at his hands clutching the steering wheel and at the almost obnoxiously big ring on his right. The ring he bought two years ago-

  
A honk brings Theo back to reality and he presses his foot on the gas pedal, the truck roaring forward through the light snow fall. Every mile it takes bringing him closer to _home_.

_So I sing for you_  
_Though you can't hear me_  
_When I get trough_  
_And feel you near me_  
_Driving in my car_  
_I'm driving home for Christmas_  
_Driving home for Christmas_  
_With a thousand memories_

Turns out, even ‘Santa Baby', blasted on full volume is of no use when it gets to stop the thoughts from coming back. As soon as Theo is on the highway, settled in his lane for a couple of hundred miles, he is back in his head. 

  
Bright blue eyes, laughter as clear as a snow capped mountain in the morning sun...  
And then his voice.  
_“I am sorry Theo, but I have to go.”_

Of course he had to go. No one ever stayed in Theo's life for long. Everything had been perfect and honestly, that should have made him suspicious way sooner.

Liam Dunbar and Theo Raeken met when Theo moved to Beacon Hills with his parents in tenth grade. It was supposed to be a new start in a new town after Tara, Theo's sister lost her battle to cancer.   
They hadn’t been fast friends, actually hated each other for the better part of two years, Liam getting riled up by Theo's sarcastic (and often hurtful, as he himself was hurting) comments, while Theo simply thought of Liam as a useless, hot headed jock.  
Everything changed with a history partner project and a night locked into the school library.

Theo smiles at the memory, it had been such a cliche teen romance situation...

_I know this shouldn't be a lonely time_  
_But there were Christmases when you were mine_  
_I've been doing fine without you, really_  
_Up until the nights got cold_  
_And everybody's here, except you, baby_  
_Seems like everyone's got someone to hold_

They were together through the last year of high school, were each other's date for prom, went through graduation hand in hand and they even applied to the same colleges. It was the happiest day of Theo's life when both of them got accepted to New York University and the shared apartment was just a cherry on top.   
With the start of second semester, Jenna, Liam's mother got sick. Cancer. And it hit Theo like a punch in the face but Liam, Liam was devastated. 

  
Growing up it had been only his mum and him, the prospect of losing her terrified the boy like no other.   
They started to fight, over the smallest things, nerves thin, patience slipping, always on the edge, until Theo came home to Liam sitting on two suitcases one fateful Thursday night. 

Theo snorts, it's almost ironic that today is a Thursday too, making the day feel like a repeat of his useless chasing for happiness and love.

_I just want you for my own_  
_More than you could ever know_  
_Make my wish come true_  
_All I want for Christmas is you_

They didn't break up, Liam, his puppy dog eyes full of tears and apologies, had called it “a break until I get back" so Theo felt bad when he ignored Liam's phone calls, keeping the ones he did take short and almost impersonal. Every ‘I miss you’, every ‘I wish you were here’, every ‘I love you’ hurt, adding up until Theo almost couldn't take it anymore. 

He knew he was being unfair and overdramatic. Liam's _mother_ was sick, for God's sake! Of course he would fly home to be with her! But he also felt disregarded; Liam making decisions like this without talking to him, leaving on just the night that the obnoxiously big engagement ring burned a hole into Theo's pocket.  
The phone calls got fewer and fewer over the summer months, Theo had to find out from Corey, the boyfriend of Liam's best friend Mason, that the Dunbars had driven down to the coast for a few weeks.   
One week later a postcard was in his mail. ‘Greetings from Miami' and a scrawl of _‘I wish you could be with us.’_ along with a lopsided heart on the backside. Theo hadn't left the house for a week after this.

  
When the letter had come a month prior to today, his almost broken heart taking a painful leap as he touched his own name, scribbled onto the envelope in Liam's chaotic handwriting.

_Oh what a Christmas to have the blues_  
_My baby's gone I have no friends_  
_To wish me greetings once again_  
_Choirs will be singing Silent Night_  
_Christmas carols by candlelight_  
_Please come home for Christmas_

This letter is the reason Theo drives through snow and the whole country. The glimmer of hope keeps him warm until the old car’s heating finally comes through, it keeps him awake when truck stop coffee doesn't.   
Apart from a few bigger trucks and other, lonely cars, Theo has the highway to himself and so he presses on the gas again while the radio plays yet another Christmas song and he thinks back to last year's holidays, when they still were happy.

_Once bitten and twice shy_  
_I keep my distance_  
_But you still catch my eye_  
_Tell me, baby_  
_Do you recognize me?_  
_Well, it's been a year_  
_It doesn't surprise me_

  
~♤~

The car door closes with a soft sound as Theo, bag over his shoulder, steps away from it. His shoes grinding over the harsh layer of not-quite-fresh snow that covers the ground, when he takes a deep breath a cloud of warmth becomes visible before his eyes, momentarily obscuring the cosy suburban house he has parked in front of.  
For a moment he just stands and looks at the building, so many happy memories were made here... _hopefully they won't get tainted now._

  
But before Theo can give in to his worries and just drive off again, the front door opens.   
There is more grinding snow and one moment later he has his arm full of warm, soft human.  
“Theo", Liam breathes, his hands tight around Theo's waist, his face against the other boy's chest, “you really came.”

Slowly Theo lays his arms around his boyfriend, awkwardly rubbing up and down his back as he answers, “well, you invited me, right?”

  
They would have probably stood outside for ages, hugging and just relishing in the other's presence if another voice hadn’t interrupted them.

“Boys! Please come inside! The snow gets in!”  
Jenna.

Theo turns in Liam's arms to look at the woman standing in the front door.  
Liam's mum is wearing launch clothing, woollen socks and an oversized Christmas sweater, her hair is very short and a strand is tickling Theo's ear when she hugs him.

  
“It's so good to see you again”, she whispers as Liam already carries Theo’s bag inside as if that would stop him from leaving if he really wants to ~~he doesn't~~ , “he was really miserable without you.”  
Theo smiles. _And I without him_. he thinks and says “Nice hair.”  
Jenna laughs, “thank you Theo”, then she pulls him inside.

The living room is warm and dimly lit with a fire spreading warmth and the Christmas tree in it's full glory.  
“Dad isn't home yet but his vacation starts tomorrow”, Liam says from behind him. Theo only nods and there is silence again.   
“So, you want some eggnog? Or maybe mulled wine? The feast is not ready yet so no food sadly-"

“Liam”, Theo interrupts the rambling, “Liam I can't just go on as if nothing happened.” The blonde’s expression falls, his shoulders sagging down but he nods.

  
“You are right. Let’s talk.”

  
And talk they do. Liam about Jenna's sickness and how she healed, his inner fight between family and Theo, how hard the past months have been.  
Theo about his loneliness, the feeling of being skipped over and useless.  
In the end both boys cry.

  
Liam can’t stop clutching Theo's hand, as if he's afraid the other will disappear as soon as contact is lost. Then he notices the ring. And let's go of the hand.  
“Theo, what is that?”  
A laugh like a sob breaks out of Theo's throat, “that Liam, is your ring.”

“No. I think I would remember owing such a rock.”  
Theo shakes his head. “I meant, this was supposed to be your ring. If you had said ‘yes'", he looks down to his lap, “I was going to ask you the day you left...”

A loud sob rips both of them out of conversation, their head flying around – only to see Jenna with her hands over her mouth, eyes tear-wet. "I didn’t think I would live to see this day! My babies are getting married!”

Liam chuckles wetly, his cheeks bright red, “Mum! I didn't even say ‘yes' yet...”

_The moon is right_  
_The spirit’s up_  
_We’re here tonight_  
_And that’s enough_  
_Simply having a wonderful Christmas time_  
_Simply having a wonderful Christmas time_

  
Later that evening Theo looks down at his bare right hand, intertwined with Liam's; there blinks and glitters an almost obnoxiously big ring in the light of the fireplace.   
And Theo smiles, his heart beating whole for the first time in years.

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas_  
_Everywhere you go_  
_Take a look at the five and ten, it's glistening once again_  
_With candy canes and silver lanes that glow._


End file.
